Reflections
by Random Sweets
Summary: Shattered. Broken. Never coming back. After finding a distress message from Vertina- written in blood- Sophie and her friends have no choice but to go. Go inside the mirror. There, they find a world of shadows and mysteries, and something else. Something they never expected. I'm doing a collab with Cress070! Here is the fanfic
1. Chapter 1

**This first chapter was written by Cress070. Sorry if it feels like I'm taking credit for her work. I'll be writing the second chapter. I'm so happy to be doing this collab with Cress, and I hope you enjoy!**

 _Ding Dong!_ The doorbell spurred Sophie into action, and she leapt off the bed where she was sitting with her book to go answer, but she didn't need to. It was the occasion of her 18th birthday, and even though elves didn't celebrate birthdays, Sophie was having her friends over anyways. Because she had been raised by humans, Grady and Edaline had decided that because eighteen was such an important birthday, Sophie should have a party. She was very grateful, but there were some issues to take into account, such as… the love triangle. All of them together like that, who knew what could happen?

But in any case, Sophie was determined to enjoy herself, starting now.

"Hey, Foster!" Keefe barged into her room, banging open the door. "Happy birthday!"

Sophie sighed inwardly, but smiled. It was good to see Keefe happy after the war. He had lost both his parents in the final battle, and it hadn't been a pretty sight. But he had been adopted by a couple with one small child who was also parentless, and in his new, loving environment, Keefe Sencen was thriving.

"Thanks, Keefe! Oh, and you get the first-guest-here award. Congrats." Sophie said, placing the book down on her nightstand.

"Awesome," Keefe said smugly. "What's my prize?" He laughed, and Sophie laughed with him.

"Um…" she picked up a petal from the ground. "This."

He accepted it with mock drama, and knelt before her, taking her hand. She giggled.

"Thank you, my queen," he whispered theatrically, and bowed his head. Sophie laughed out loud, and he stood up, smiling. Sophie flushed, and took a small step backwards.

Fortunately the doorbell chose that moment to chime again, saving Sophie and Keefe from having to live out that awkward moment.

"That's probably the Vackers," Sophie said, and sprang up to get the door. Keefe followed her down the stairs, their boots clomping loudly on the crystal floors. She eagerly pulled the door open, and greeted the smiling faces of Fitz and Biana.

"Happy birthday, Sophie!" they chorused, and Sophie smiled widely.

"Come on in," she said. "Dex should be here soon-" she was cut off as Dex Dizznee, her best friend, glittered into view. Sophie was suddenly drowned in sparkly gifts as Biana, Fitz, and Dex all shoved their presents into her hands. "Oh! Thanks, guys. Come on in, we'll all go up too my room. Tam and Linh are going to be arriving late, I'm not sure what they're doing."

Talking and laughing, they all ascended the stairs. Biana held open the door to Sophie's room, and she dumped her presents in a pile on her bed.

"Should I open them now, or should we wait for Linh and Tam?" Sophie asked, checking the clock she had hung on her wall.

"Obviously now, Foster!" Keefe said, sidling over to stand beside her. "You wouldn't want to miss my gift."

"You'll like mine," Biana said. "It's edible." Sophie laughed. "I do like edible things. Alright, we'll do these now and Tam and Linh's later."

Biana shoved her parcel into Sophie's hands. It was wrapped with pale pink paper with a metallic sheen to it. Sophie was very pleasantly surprised at its lack of sparkles- and then tore the paper, revealing a white bakery box covered in glitter. Oh well.

"Open it!" Biana said, bouncing eagerly on her toes. Sophie smiled, and looked up at the faces of her friends around her. She opened the box, and beamed.

"Mallowmelt! Biana, thank you so much!" she said, embracing her with the hand that was not holding the box.

"Me next!" Keefe said, and handed her his gift. It was in a bag as opposed to a parcel, and it was very small. Sophie pulled out the tissue paper, pulled out a jewelry box. Setting the wrapping aside, she exclaimed; "Keefe, you shouldn't have!"

"Yeah, that's what my parents say every time I try to teach Abuel to swear," Keefe said, smirking. Dex laughed. "I tried that with the triplets when they were five. I think I damaged them."

Sophie ignored them, and opened the small box. Inside was a charm for the bracelet that Grady and Edaline had given Sophie so many years ago. It was a flower, pale pink but with inky blues and purples throughout the petals.

"It's beautiful, Keefe…" Sophie breathed, gazing at it. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it," Keefe said proudly. "I took a small branch off the Panakes tree, and carved it out so I could paint it."

Sophie threw her arms around him. "Thank you!" She pulled away, blushing.

"Um, who's next?" she asked. Dex raised his hand. "Me! Mine's the- nope- nope- yep."

Sophie grabbed his package off the table. It was a pearly white, almost the colour of Silveny and Greyfell's baby, Opalas. She had been born a few years ago, and was almost full grown now.

Sophie pulled off the wrapping paper, and inside was a case of elixirs. They were a multitude of colours and shades with different consistencies, and Sophie loved it.

She looked up from the case, eyes glinting happily. "Dex! They're so cool! What do they do?"

He grinned proudly. "They change your voice and appearance. I thought it would be fun to try them out today."

"It would. Thanks, Dex." Sophie smiled at her friend. "Fitz, I think that you're the only one left now."

She picked up the only gift left on the bed. It was small, and wrapped in a glittery teal paper, almost the exact shade on his eyes… Sophie shook her head, and opened the box. Inside was a delicate silver band, adorned with rubies. It looked like a bangle at first, but when she touched it was soft and stretchy. "Oh, Fitz! It's amazing, thank you."

Sophie was about to pull it around her wrist, until Fitz said; "It can be worn as a bracelet, but you can also use it as a choker or a hair tie. And when you- can I take it for a moment?"

Sophie nodded, and handed it to him. He twisted it until it was tiny, and then pressed the largest ruby. Then he threw it at the wall, and there was a loud sizzle and a flash. They all shrieked, and jumped back except for Fitz, who had been expecting it.

"It does that." he said with immense satisfaction.

"Cool," Sophie said, retrieving it and slipping it on her wrist. "That will be useful on my Universe teacher."

They all shared a laugh, and Biana piped up; "Guys! Let's play truth or dare!"

"Oh… that's probably not-" Sophie started, but was cut off by a chorus of "Yeah!"

Sighing, she sat down in a circle with the rest of her friends.

"Birthday girl first!" Biana said. "Sophie, truth or dare?"

"Um… dare," she said, nerves pounding in her stomach. Truth was always too risky.

"Okay…" Biana replied, tapping her chin with her perfectly manicured finger. "I dare you to… Go tell Grady that you're pregnant!"

There was a chorus of _Ooooos,_ and Sophie turned bright red.

"Fine," she muttered, and walked out the door.

"Grady?" she called into the hall. His door opened, and out popped his head.

"You need something, love?" he asked, concerned.

"Um… I'm pregnant." Sophie said, and his face turned bright red as he gaped at her.

"No! No, I'm not really, I was dared- we're playing truth or dare, so… it's fine. I'm not. Nope."

His face returned to his normal shade. "Okay. Wow. That's good. You need anything?" he asked, and Sophie shook her head.

She walked back into her room, where everyone was waiting, listening just inside the doorframe.

"Great job, Foster!" Keefe said, holding up his hand for a high five. Sophie rolled her eyes, smiling, and purposely missed, slapping him lightly on the cheek.

"Hey!' Keefe said with theatrical flourish. "I'm so injured!"

"Okay, who's next?" Sophie asked. "You can ask anyone, Sophie. It's your birthday!" Biana said, smiling.

Sophie looked around the circle, and locked eyes with Fitz. Everyone laughed.  
"Fitz…" Sophie said thoughtfully. "Truth or Dare?"

Fitz fidgeted for a moment, before replying, "Truth."

"What did your parents call you when you were little?"

Fitz turned as red as Sophie had ever seen him get. "Dare! dare! "

"Too late, big brother. And if you don't tell, I will!" Biana said triumphantly from beside him.

Fitz mumbled something too softly for them to hear.

"What was that?" Keefe smirked.

"They called me, um… Fizzybear…" FItz muttered, his eyes downcast, and everyone burst out laughing.

"Wow. Okay." Sophie said. "Your turn!"

"Dex. Truth or…" he paused dramatically, whipping his head around to stare at Dex. "...dare?"

"Dare, Fizzybear." Dex said, and Fitz rolled his eyes.

"I dare you to let Sophie's magic mirror give you a makeover!" Fitz declared.

Everyone cheered, and Sophie walked them all over to the mirror. She expected it to turn on as normal, but it didn't. She leaned in closer with everyone chattering behind her, and gasped.

"What?" Fitz asked, walking over to lean down beside her. "Oh, no."

On the back of the mirror, written in blood, was a message. A message, destroying all hopes of safety. Destroying the perfect crystal world Sophie had thought she had finally found after she had defeated the Neverseen.

 _NEVERSEEN IN THE MIRRORS_

 _THEY ARE EVERYWHERE_

 _COME_

 _HELP_

 _PLEASE_

 _VERTINA_

"No…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! This is Random Sweets. This is the chapter that I wrote, while the first chapter was written by Cress070. Hope you enjoy! We both posted the same story, which we agreed on, so it is not plagaurism. Go check it out on Cress070 's profile as well, and leave a review on both of our stories; it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :)))  
**

The group of friends, giddy only a minute ago, was now gaping, horrified at the note on the mirror.

"You know what this means, right guys?" Sophie whispered, breaking the silence. Biana sighed. "Please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you are. Please not another one of your crazy ideas."

"Much as I used to hate Vertina, she's like a sister to me now, and we have to go after her...into the mirror." Sophie cautiously looked up at her friends. There was a collective groan rising up among them, but they knew it was inevitable. Sophie would go no matter what, and as her friends, they would go with her.

"Okay, let's go." Sophie warily stood up, and Fitz being the only one brave enough to follow her, took her hand. She gave a small, thankful smile to Fitz.

"Hold up!" Keefe suddenly interjected. "Sorry to break up this moment between you two lovebirds, but how the heck are we going to get into the mirror?"

"Keefe's right," Dex's voice drifting towards them from behind. "As much I support your ideas, we probably have no way of getting in."

Biana gaped at Dex. "Did you just agree with Keefe?"

"Um, duh?" Keefe wiggled his eyebrows. "Everyone agrees with the Keefester."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Suuuure, Keefe. But we have a much more dire situation on hand than Keefe's popularity."

Keefe's eyes widened as he stepped back as if he had been slapped. "No!"

Dex snickered. "Roasted!"

Sophie turned her glare to Dex. "Anyway, we should head to Dex's dad, and see if he some sort of potion to get into the mirror."

Biana was all business. "Since I know I can't argue with you, I might as well take charge." She put her fists on her hips and stood up. "Right after I redo my makeup."

She marched towards the bathroom while Keefe whistled. "She is one tough woman."

Fitz groaned. "You know that she is going to take at least twenty minutes, right?"

Fidgeting, Sophie sighed. "Might as well get her out of there before she gets too caught up in beautifying herself."

After dragging Biana out of the bathroom, all of them were finally ready to go. Sophie was relieved there wasn't anything else stopping them. And though she hated to admit it, she was actually slightly excited to have another mission.

All of a sudden, they heard Grady walking towards them in another hallway.

"Quick! Let's get out of here before Grady catches us. He'll think it's my fault. He hates me." Keefe urged them out of the room in a rush.

"You don't have to state the obvious," Dex muttered as they rushed out the door.

The group of friends jogged over to Slurps and Burps, all nervous yet determined. Right in front of the store was Tam and Linh. Linh squealed and ran over to Sophie.  
"Happy birthday! Sorry we were going to be late, I wanted to grab an elixir for my hair. Here, I got you a present." Linh handed over a small sphere, and in it was swirling waters, different colors slowly blending together. It looked kind of like a cache.  
"Thanks Linh! But... what is it?" Sophie grinned at Linh. Linh laughed.  
"These are different potions that could come in handy. See this teal color? That's a healing potion to keep you from fading."  
Teal... Fitz's eyes... Sophie quickly shook away her occurring thoughts and thanked Linh with a hug.  
"Awwww, you girls are so cute." Keefe draped his arms over the two girls. Sophie rolled her eyes, but saw Fitz silently fuming in the corner. Glaring daggers at Keefe. Sophie didn't know why, but that made a spark of happiness blaze inside of her.  
"Hold on... how did you know we were coming here?" Biana raised one eyebrow.  
"Oh, well, no reason." Tam laughed nervously, while Linh was not so secretly elbowing Tam and wiggling her eyebrows. Sophie didn't usually see Tam nervous, but he did seem to act not like himself when Biana was around.  
Biana quirked up one side of her mouth and gave Tam a playful shove.  
"Hey guys!" Kesler suddenly appeared out of the shop. "You need anything?"  
"Hey dad! Would you happen to have a potion to get into mirrors? Not that we're doing anything dangerous... it's an experiment." Dex gave a nervous smile, and quickly glanced at Sophie.  
Sophie facepalmed inwardly. Way to be subtle, Dex.  
"What he means to say," Fitz hurriedly covered up. "Is that our professors at Foxfire thought it would be useful to learn different types or portals and items we can go into, just to learn safety skills."  
Fitz is a really smooth talker. Sophie didn't hide her smile to Fitz as Kesler let them into the shop to pick whatever they needed.

Once they were in the store, Sophie explained the dire situation they were in to Tam and Linh. Tam seemed a bit absent minded, like he didn't really believe her. But Linh was all ears. "Oh gosh, that's awful! What are we waiting for! Hurry!"

And five minutes later, they were quickly rushing out of there, hardcore looks chiseled into their faces. To any bystanders, they would have looked like a bunch of crazy teenagers who didn't know how to properly shop.

When they got back to Sophie's house, they briskly shoved the front door open, only to be greeted by a frowning Grady.

"Where were you guys? I know that you're teenagers, and you're more independent now, but that gives you no reason to just sneak out of the house like that."

Sophie made her widest eyes and stuck out her lower lip a bit. "But daddy, it's my birthday! I just went to pick up Tam and Linh and went to the store for a bit."

Grady sighed heavily. "Alright. I'll let you go this time. But if this happens again, I will not be this nice." Grady ears were turning red.

"Oh, and by the way, hi, Tam and Linh." he hurriedly greeted them. Linh raised her hand in an awkward hello, and they swiftly escaped to Sophie's room.

"Wow, that sure was awkward." Keefe mumbled.

"Guys, let's not waste any more time. We should figure out how to use this potion thingy." Biana held up a vial of red swirling with pink. It looked like it was ready to make something explode.

"Yeah, why don't you handle it Biana?" Dex took a cautious step back. Biana rolled her eyes and muttered something about boys being cowards.

"Fine. But if I get hurt, it's your fault." Biana looked pointedly at Dex. She slowly popped the cork out of the opening. "Um, what am I supposed to do now? Pour it on the mirror?"

Keefe stared at the back. "It says that we have to each take a sip of it."

Sophie gulped. Keefe clearly noticed her nervousness and raised his eyebrows. "I could totally do it first if you want to trust me, Foster. After all, it's my job to help damsels in distress."

She groaned. "Fine. But only because I want to see what damage it brings to you."

Keefe hit his chest with a fist. "It would be my honor." He cautiously brought the vial to his lips and took a small sip. Everyone stared at him as if he were about to mutate into an imp soon.

Keefe chuckled. "I know you all think I'm handsome, but you don't have to sta-"

Poof.

Before he could finish his sentence, he disappeared into thin air. The vial hung in the air for a second, and then started to fall. Tam, with his lightning fast reflexes, caught it before it fell. Linh was taking deep breaths, as if trying to keep control over herself.

"Nice catch Tam!" Biana smiled at him. Tam blushed.

Wow. Sophie thought to herself. Tam actually can blush?

"Hey guys!" A slightly muffled voice came from behind them. They all whipped around to see Keefe waving at them from inside the mirror.

Linh let out a small shriek. "Did it hurt?"

"Nah, it was totally fine. It felt kind of like when Foster teleports us."

Sophie let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. "Okay, I'll go next."

The group of friends went in one by one until they all experienced the disintegrating feel of their bodies reappearing inside the mirror.

They were inside a dark, musty room with dust gathering in the corners. There was no sign of Vertina.

"Whew, that was… interesting." Biana breathed as she brushed off her skirt.

"Indeed, this is very interesting." A deep, raspy voice with a hint of a smile came from behind them.

Sophie gasped and turned around. There was a man in a Neverseen cloak, the white eye symbol glinting in the dark room. He was holding something small and frail. And to Sophie's horrifying realization, it was Vertina he was holding with a melder against her temple.


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! Guys the third chapter is here! :) This chapter is by Cress070 so make sure you leave a review on her account and tell her how good she did!**

Darkness. Darkness and silence, penetrated only by soft whispers which Sophie couldn't make out. She pushed through the velvety walls of black, searching, searching, until a light glinted through the darkness. She followed the light, pushing aside the dark curtains, until she came face-to-face with the source of the illumination… herself?

"Hello?" she whispered, and the Other Sophie did the same thing.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

Other Sophie stepped closer. And closer, and closer, until they were face to face. Strangely enough, Sophie didn't feel afraid.

"What do you need?" Sophie asked her, and Other Sophie smiled, and stepped closer, stepped into her, and they became one- one body, one mind, one soul.

She opened her eyes, feeling stronger, and awoke.

Sophie opened her eyes in the cold darkness of a cell. Its only light source was a chink or two in its seemingly impenetrable walls, and it cast a dull, watery light over the completely bare room. She got to her feet, running her hands over the stone, but it appeared that there was no door the enter or leave from.

Sophie sat down on the floor, closed her eyes, and tried to feel the swell of power that normally swirled around her as soon as she concentrated. She squeezed her eyes shut, imagining planting a seed of power in the stone, but nothing happened.

That was when the first seed of panic set in. She gave up trying to break the stone, and instead stretched out her mind. But she couldn't. She felt trapped in her head, and she desperately pushed at the mental walls setting in, but she was powerless.

There was no way out without teleporting, and the cell's roof was much to low, even if she could levitate, and given how weak she felt, that wasn't an option.

"Hello?" she called, softly, and then louder. "Hello?"

A clattering arose from the wall to her right, where the only flaw in the stone was. Sophie held her breath against the swell of adrenaline telling her to run, flee, and stepped closer to the cold stone. Crouching down a bit, she pressed her eye against the chink in the wall, and gasped. Vertina was lying on the floor, wrapped up in chains, with a gag tied around her mouth.

When she saw Sophie, she made a muffled groaning noise, straining against the chains and making the clattering noise again.

"Vertina! Are you okay?" Sophie asked, and Vertina rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She made another muffled noise.

"If you can come closer, I might be able to reach far enough to get the gag off," Sophie offered, sizing up the small hole to her hand. Fortunately, she had always had very small hands and feet, so there was a good chance she would be able to fit.

Vertina made another noise, and began working her way across the floor to the wall. She looked to ridiculous that in another situation, Sophie might have laughed.

As Vertina made her way across the floor, Sophie began to squeeze her hand through the wall. It hurt, but she was able to get her hand through to her wrist. The problem now was that she couldn't see Vertina.

"Two noises means yes, one means no," Sophie told her, and two grunts came from the other side of the wall.

"Are you at the wall yet?" Sophie asked her.

 _Mmhg mmhg._

"Can you reach your head up to my hand?"

 _Mmhg mmhg_

"Good, do that now."

Another loud clattering of chains arose from the other cell, and Sophie felt fabric touch her hand. "Am I touching your gag?"

 _Mmhg mmhg! Mmhg mmhg!_

Sophie got the best hold she could, and ripped upwards as hard as she could. She heard the sound of fabric tearing, and another clattering of chains.

"Did it work?" she called.

"Yes!"

Sophie almost cried with relief. "Oh, good. Are you okay?"

"Well, the back of my neck is killing me where you ripped off the gag, and I'm tied up in chains, but other than that, I'm great!" came the sarcastic reply.

"That's not what I meant, but okay," said Sophie, worming her hand out of the crack in the wall. "Do you know how long it's been since we got here? What happened? Where's Fitz? And Biana, and Dex, and Keefe-" Sophie said, suddenly realizing how much she didn't know.

"Um. It's hard to keep track of time in the mirror, but maybe two days? You were out for a long time. I've been in here for maybe three. I don't know how you got here, because after I wrote that message- with a nasty cut on my arm that the mirror healed yesterday, the Neversen dragged me away. They left the message there to lure you in. I'm sorry, I didn't think that would happen. I don't know where your friends are, I'm sorry. But they aren't in here, so the're either safe, still stuck in the mirror, or…" Vartina trailed off, but Sophie knew what she would have said. They were dead. But Sophie tried as hard as she could to push that thought out of the way, and focus on… what mattered? Her friends mattered. They couldn't be dead.

"Oh. Oh. Okay. Well." Sophie stammered, thoughts still flooding her head.

"They're probably fine. I think they're hiding somewhere. It's not hard to hide. I was safe in here for years before I noticed the Neverseen were even inside. They must have a new member, a mirror manipulator. I don't really know what it's called, it's so rare. But it's the ability to travel through mirrors. I never knew of one besides myself before."

Sophie inhaled sharply. "You were… not always in the mirror?"

"No. I had a life. I had a family, friends, I was in Foxfire- and then the Cast came."

Sophie frowned. The Cast? She had never heard of anything to do with them. "What's the Cast?" she asked, puzzled.

"There was a time before the Neverseen, Sophie. All through our history, there have been rebellions. Only one has ever succeeded, and that was the Cast. The Cast created the division between the Talentless and the Talented. They created the Council and our governing system. Some of what they did was good. They built the crystal cities and the Council, like I said. But they also did evil.

"They forced elementalists, Hydrokinetics, Frosters, Pyrokinetics, Reflectors, like me- they forced them to retreat into their elements. I was banished to this mirror. I know that the Hydrokinetics went underwater, the Frosters into the mountains, the Pyrokinetics went into the deserts. There are probably a few Reflectors in the mirror realms, but I don't know of any that could help us. If I could just get out of these chains…" she sent the metal links clanking again, oblivious to Sophie's shock.

"What?" Sophie eventually gasped. "There was- what?"

"Honestly." Vertina was probably rolling her eyes right now, Sophie guessed. "You heard what I said. I also said that if you could get me out of these chains, I could open a portal out of the mirror for you. Or just out of this cell, because you're probably going to be all high and mighty and go save your friends as well."

"What? Oh. Yes. Yes, I have to save my friends." Sophie said. "I bet we could make this hole bigger if we tried, and then I could try to loosen the chains. Are they just long ropes, or are they cuffs?"

"Just ropes, I think. Padlocked," Vertina replied. "You can undo the locks with your telekinesis, right?"

Sophie let a small smile slip onto her lips. "I can try."


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the fourth chapter! Sorry it took so long to write. I had writers block. Anyway, I wrote this Chapter and Cress070 will write the next one.**

Chapter 4

Sophie collapsed from exhaustion. She had been trying to undo the padlocked ropes for the past two hours, but the Neverseen must have put some enchantment on it to make sure she couldn't manipulate the lock.

Vertina (A/N: OMG Vertina was just autocorrected to Vertical lol) cast a worried look at Sophie. Normally, she would smirk and ramble on about how much more work Sophie needed on her powers, but this mirror was doing strange things to everyone.

Sophie lay panting, slumped against the wall. The air was starting to smell moldy, and those rust spots on the metal bars on the ceiling were really getting to her. She was starting to feel helpless. She had already tried the explosive rubies from Fitz, the sucker punch from Dex, and even her own fists and feet, but nothing seemed to work. She didn't even have a way to communicate with her friends—

Wait.

Sophie jumped upwards as an idea hit her with full force. She could use her ring from Dex, used to call him over when he was needed.

She inhaled a shaky breath through her nose, and shuddered as she exhaled. Sophie knew she shouldn't get her hopes up; it would most likely not work judging from her past ideas' histories. Not only that, but the Neverseen might very well sense the Technopath magic wavering off of it.

"I'm going to do it." Sophie mumbled, trying to be brave.

"You're going to do what?" A cranky voice came from the other side of the wall.

Sophie jumped so high, she could almost touch the metal bars on the ceiling.

"Vertina! Don't scare me like that! I was just about to push the button!" Sophie had almost forgotten about how she was trying to free Vertina from her chains.

"Wow. So brave. You're getting all worked up over a button? In case you don't know, your crazed mumbling and breathing could be heard from a mile away in this silent isolation."

Sophie was taken aback. Vertina was being so nice before, Sophie had thought she might have actually changed. Apparently not.

"Okay, just because we happen to be imprisoned next to each other gives you no right to be cranky. And need I remind you that I was the one who freed you from the gag."

"Um yeah, but you didn't remove my chains."

"That's what I've been trying to do this entire time you ungrateful b-" Sophie caught herself before she could say anything she regretted.

"Hold on. You've been trying to do that the whole time and you haven't made any progress? I would laugh, but we are in a much too dire situation thanks to you."

Sophie took a deep breath and tried to bring the subject back to what was important.

"But wait...something doesn't make sense. Why did the Neverseen put so many powerful chains around you when I have no restrictions?"

Vertina rolled her eyes. "How should I know?"

Sophie was seething with rage. What was wrong with her? Screw it. Sophie didn't care anymore.

She turned her eyes back at Vertina. "Maybe because you've lived your whole life in this mirror! I thought you being a Reflector or whatever would actually help us. I thought that you being held in this mirror and always annoying me would serve a good purpose of you actually knowing the place well. But I guess not! Maybe you would understand how this mirror is like a prison for me, and probably my friends as well, if you actually had friends or have any feelings. But now I can see what a lonely, outcasted jerk you are."

Sophie spun on her heel and tried to storm away, but came face to face with the wall. From behind her, Sophie started to hear sobbing.

Sophie whirled around.

There was Vertina, bawling her eyes out over what Sophie said.

Her jaw nearly hit the ground. Was this the same Vertina from two minutes ago? She closed her eyes. No. Just because Vertina is asking for pity through tears doesn't mean she's sorry for her rudeness.

"I'm so sorry Sophie," Vertina wailed.

Sophie was internally conflicted. Apparently, Vertina was sorry, but what should Sophie do about it? Would Vertina just laugh at her weak personality?

Crossing her arms, Sophie turned around once again to face the wall. But a small voice inside her head started to pester her.

Remember the time when you graduated foxfire? You had absolutely no fashion sense and you thought that the purple gown that looked like a crippled eggplant looked good on you. Thankfully, Vertina saved you and gave you the red strapless ball gown instead. Remember how Fitz gazed at you?(A/N This did not happen in the series btw. I just made it up ) Sophie scowled. She thought the purple dress actually did look okay. And what did fashion have to do with anything?

The voice came back again. Much as you hate to admit it, you love Vertina as a sister, and so does she. You may go through rough times, but that will increase your bond in the future.

Sophie sighed. That voice in her head was so annoying, but Sophie knew it was probably best to listen to it. Vertina's sobs were still going.

"Vertina? You okay?" Sophie tentatively asked, peering through the crack in the wall.

Vertina looked at Sophie straight in the eye, tears still dripping down her face. "Sophie, I need to tell you something."

Sophie frowned, but nodded.

"You asked why I have so many chains and locks on me while you don't? It would make sense for you to have all the restrictions, being the powerful elf and all, but for us to escape together, I have to tell you this… I was part of the Cast, the Neverseen of my time."

"You were WHAT?!" Sophie gasped.

"Just let me explain!" Vertina cried. "Everyone I tell starts to hate me, so please hear me out!"

Sophie huffed but nodded.

"Ever since I was little, my parents would pressure me into being the perfect child. They would give me everything I wanted and even things I didn't want to make me appear rich and happy. I was the opposite of happy. They would harshly punish me when I didn't get perfect test scores and they would lock me in my closet for hours at a time for punishment. Ironically, it took me longer than the average child at my school to develope my ability. My parents would put me in the most dangerous, extreme situations to try and provoke my powers. You don't want to know what they put me through. But what makes it worse was that kids would bully me relentlessly from jealousy of all my wealth that I didn't even want. When I couldn't develope an ability, they knew that they had found my weak spot. I cried almost every day.

"But then one day, the day of my award ceremony for the spelling bee, when my servants were trying on a new dress on me in front of the mirror, they pulled the corset too tight."

"You lived at the time when they used corsets?" Sophie asked irrediculously.

"Yes, don't interrupt." Vertina snapped. "Anyway, they started to pull the corset so tight that I couldn't breath. I wheezed at them to stop, but they just said how my mother told them to make it as tight as possible because I wasn't skinny enough. I was heartbroken. My mother had already split my food portions in half even though I was ten percent skinnier than the average person my age. Still, my servants relentlessly pulled the corset tighter and tighter until my skin had split open all over my back.

"It was too much. I was screaming in agony. I wished my servants would stop. No, I wish they would disappear. I wished it as hard as I could. All of a sudden, my servants did disappeared. I didn't bother to wonder where they went. I just ripped off my corset and ran out of the room. But not before I heard a muffled cry from inside the mirror.

"As soon as my parents found out what happened, they unexpectedly praised me. They didn't care about the lives of some measly servants. They were actually proud of me for progressing towards my ability. But all that meant more extreme pain near mirrors.

"Not only was all the intense drama happening at home, but there was word of a new uprising happening around the city; the Cast. They were a sort of political group who was trying to gain power through weird riots and protests. No one really knew the main goal of the Cast, but what I knew was that the Cast trained children and teens in their abilities to make them stronger. Immediately, I knew I wanted to join the Cast.

"I joined the Cast, and they welcomed me with open arms. I had never felt loved before, and now I did. The time came when my power reached its peak. I could transport objects, others, and myself into mirrors and I could manipulate what others saw in the mirror. I could also send messages to other mirrors. I would be lying if I didn't say that I had some fun making my mother look fat or my father have a beard. That position you used to get into the mirror? It was made by only top level reflectors like me.

"I proudly presented my powers to the Cast, expecting praise. Instead, they told each other that I was ready, and forced into this mirror permanently. I was shocked. What were they doing? It was too late when I realized it. They had betrayed me and were going to force me to make potions to get into mirrors which they could sell. They wanted those potions to bribe people into getting onto their side and supporting them.

"While imprisoned, I used my manipulative powers to make it look like I escaped and make myself invisible in the mirror, and sent a message out far and wide to anyone who would listen saying how I was trapped and I needed help. The people who responded to my help plea were Edaline and Grady. They knew from the start that the Cast was bad news, and took me in as an equal. But the best part was Jolie. She treated me like an actual person, not a mirror and we were best friends.

"The enchantment they put on me was too strong, so I couldn't escape. However, the Cast figured out that Grady and Edaline had taken me in, but I was too powerful to bring back. Now, they've finally found me, and they know to put many restrictions on me so I can't outsmart them like I did last time."

Vertina finished with a long, painful sigh. Sophie stood up with a purposeful gleam in her eyes.

"Vertina, we are going to escape together. I know I'm not Jolie, but I'm willing to be your friend as well, and I know we can escape if we work together.

Vertina gave a small smile. "Thank you."


End file.
